DESCRIPTION

An object of this class describes an attribute of a class created by Class::Meta. It includes metadata such as the name of the attribute, its data type, its accessibility, and whether or not a value is required. It also provides methods to easily get and set the value of the attribute for a given instance of the class.

Class::Meta::Attribute objects are created by Class::Meta; they are never instantiated directly in client code. To access the attribute objects for a Class::Meta-generated class, simply call its my_class() method to retrieve its Class::Meta::Class object, and then call the attributes() method on the Class::Meta::Class object.

INTERFACE

Constructors

new

A protected method for constructing a Class::Meta::Attribute object. Do not call this method directly; Call the add_attribute() method on a Class::Meta object, instead.

Instance Methods

name

my $name = $attr->name;

Returns the name of the attribute.

type

my $type = $attr->type;

Returns the name of the attribute's data type. Typical values are "scalar", "string", and "boolean". See Class::Meta for a complete list.

desc

my $desc = $attr->desc;

Returns a description of the attribute.

label

my $label = $attr->label;

Returns a label for the attribute, suitable for use in a user interface. It is distinguished from the attribute name, which functions to name the accessor methods for the attribute.

required

my $req = $attr->required;

Indicates if the attribute is required to have a value.

once

my $once = $attr->once;

Indicates whether an attribute value can be set to a defined value only once.

package

my $package = $attr->package;

Returns the package name of the class that attribute is associated with.

view

my $view = $attr->view;

Returns the view of the attribute, reflecting its visibility. The possible values are defined by the following constants:

Class::Meta::PUBLIC

Class::Meta::PRIVATE

Class::Meta::TRUSTED

Class::Meta::PROTECTED

context

my $context = $attr->context;

Returns the context of the attribute, essentially whether it is a class or object attribute. The possible values are defined by the following constants:

Class::Meta::CLASS

Class::Meta::OBJECT

authz

my $authz = $attr->authz;

Returns the authorization for the attribute, which determines whether it can be read or changed. The possible values are defined by the following constants:

Class::Meta::READ

Class::Meta::WRITE

Class::Meta::RDWR

Class::Meta::NONE

class

my $class = $attr->class;

Returns the Class::Meta::Class object that this attribute is associated with. Note that this object will always represent the class in which the attribute is defined, and not any of its subclasses.

default

my $default = $attr->default;

Returns the default value for a new instance of this attribute. Since the default value can be determined dynamically, the value returned by default() may change on subsequent calls. It all depends on what was passed for the default parameter in the call to add_attribute() on the Class::Meta object that generated the class.

get

my $value = $attr->get($thingy);

This method calls the "get" accessor method on the object passed as the sole argument and returns the value of the attribute for that object. Note that it uses a goto to execute the accessor, so the call to set() itself will not appear in a call stack trace.

set

$attr->set($thingy, $new_value);

This method calls the "set" accessor method on the object passed as the first argument and passes any remaining arguments to assign a new value to the attribute for that object. Note that it uses a goto to execute the accessor, so the call to set() itself will not appear in a call stack trace.

build

$attr->build($class);

This is a protected method, designed to be called only by the Class::Meta class or a subclass of Class::Meta. It takes a single argument, the Class::Meta::Class object for the class in which the attribute was defined, and generates attribute accessors by calling out to the make_attr_get() and make_attr_set() methods of Class::Meta::Type as appropriate for the Class::Meta::Attribute object.

Although you should never call this method directly, subclasses of Class::Meta::Constructor may need to override its behavior.